I read Allnurses every day, rarely do I post. Over the past year or so I've been reading more and more about how hard "that first year of nursing" is and how many new nurses just can't handle it and are looking to get out. I understand.
As an old, seasoned nurse, now retired I have watched nursing get harder and harder, working with sicker and sicker patients with less resources. How long can this continue? I've read lately about nurses who need antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds just to be able to come to work each day. And we all nod and say that's just how nursing is now. I read about nurses who cry and dread each day that they have to come to work, working in fear of making a mistake. The horror, a human being might make a mistake. And then I read other nurses who say, "we should never make mistakes, we should triple/quadruple check everything we do because the poor patient should not be harmed in any way, ever." What utopia do they live in? And yet we have to drop everything that we are triple checking to run and get a family member an extra pillow or a soft drink or risk being reprimanded.
What other career puts such a burden on it's members? I can't think of any that routinely have members dreading to come to work and needing medications to get through a shift, maybe airtraffic controllers, or combat soldiers. I don't know.
And then we tell ourselves that we should be happy that we're lucky to have a job. Really? What is so lucky about this?
I started nursing 40 years ago on a busy labor and delivery unit. I was afraid at times. But there was a support system from the top down. Director of nursing, nursing supervisors, head nurses (they weren't called managers back then) and the shift charge nurse, everyone pulled together. I miss that. I left hospital bedside nursing 10 years ago because of the lack of support and teamwork, and the increasing focus on the patient "experience" versus a positive outcome of disease or injury.
I don't have an answer, well I do but for some reason, nurses I have known don't want to talk about solving problems for their profession. We're great at solving everyone else's problems but not our own. How long can this continue? I feel sorry for new nurses and for my older colleagues as well.
I think there is nothing shameful about crying over a work situation as long as it is not in front of a patient. I have seen many nurses cry over my many years as a nurse - new graduates and experience nurses, old and young. After all we are only human beings and not everybody copes with stress in the same way. Nurses can cry out of grief, overwhelm, depression and so on and forth but still be professional in their role and do a great job. One does not exclude the other! It is important to support each other as nurses and to treat each other with kindness and understanding.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
TBH I find your two previous posts in this thread condescending and dismissive. You have worked as a nurse for all of 5 weeks and tell nurses that have worked 20-30 years that "maybe this isn't the career for you?" Me thinks you will be eating your words in a year or two.[/quote']
I've worked as a nurse for 40 years. When I was a new grad, I was miserable and there were times I cried in my car. But overall, nursing has been an interesting, challenging and flexible career that has afforded me a comfortable home, reliable car and some nice extras. No career is perfect. If you require antidepressants to function and cry in your car before every shift even after several years, perhaps this isn't the career for you.
But I doubt I'll be eating my words in a year or two.
Specializes in Oncology, Rehab, Public Health, Med Surg.
As nurses we also need to be emotionally mature which is exactly what is lacking in this profession as evidenced by many of the defensive comments related to that ONE post on this thread. I really hope that is not what translates into your daily nursing care because patients and families will always have something directly rude to say that can certainly be taken more seriously than innocent comments such as the ones we are currently debating over.
As a nurse of over 30 years with a progressively upward job history, I'm comfortable with my "emotional maturity".
And I am confident in my ability to respond, or translate as you say, with an appropiate manner to patients, rude or otherwise
I tend to disagree. No career is perfect. I guess I didn't go into nursing with rose colored glasses on. I've been in healthcare for many years. I didn't like what I used to do, so I left and went down another path. My advise, if you can't stand it and cry in your car, then maybe this isn't the career for you
Your previous career has absolutely nothing in common with nursing. Just as my career has absolutely nothing to do with being a pharmacist...sure both jobs are in health care but that is as far as the similarities go.
So you say you didn't go into nursing with rose colored glasses on? I say that based on your lack of experience and your questionable at best career advice to those that have been in the trenches for years that your rose colored glasses are indeed very firmly in place.
I think the way this thread has evolved is a really good example of why we as nurses can't have nice things. Nurses just love to rip each other apart and argue who's right instead of focusing on what's really important. The nurse who was crying in the car...I feel for you. Been there. No one else has the right to comment or impose their opinion on that...it's your experience, no one else's. The very fact there are so many nurses crying, feeling depressed, overeating, drinking, taking drugs etc, is the real reason we need to step up and make changes. No job is worth your sanity. I want to see business-minded nurses having some business savvy and buying hospitals that are nursing-run. I want to see nurse-friendly organizations. I want to see respect, financial incentives, professional respect and assistance with education. I don't want to see anymore nurses fired at will, targeted, bullied or made to feel worthless. Big business is the root of all evil and has finally infiltrated healthcare, and nurses just don't know what to do about that because we've always focused on the patient. It's time to wise up and get involved or we're going to pay the price.
Specializes in Pediatric Oncology, Pediatric Neurology.
Your previous career has absolutely nothing in common with nursing. Just as my career has absolutely nothing to do with being a pharmacist...sure both jobs are in health care but that is as far as the similarities go.
So you say you didn't go into nursing with rose colored glasses on? I say that based on your lack of experience and your questionable at best career advice to those that have been in the trenches for years that your rose colored glasses are indeed very firmly in place.
I see you ladies lurk together in waves, congrats on the allnurses.com "fame" you seem to feed on. I hope that continues to bring you the "power" you are in dire straits for, as I can venture to guess you are not getting from your current positions as nurses.
Not that I owe you any explanation, but since you feel the need ASSUME that you know everything, let me lend you a helping hand off of that high horse:
I was an accountant in the health care setting among MANY other titles such as Social Services in a skilled nursing facility- that being my most recent life before becoming a nurse. Yes, I dealt directly with residents and yes I remember dealing with many of the SAME issues nurses face in dealing with other healthcare Professionals like obtaining orders from less than helpful doctors and Medical Directors, settling grievances with irate family members, assessing the psychosocial status of 150+ residents on a weekly basis, dealing with very difficult nurses in care planning meetings, oh and let's not forget- we also had measures to meet and hoops to jump through to prepare for our annual surveys and visits from AHCA.
Again, I HAVE earned the right to an opinion.
Another short-coming seen in nursing as stated in current nursing publications speaks about the nurses' inability to recognize and work within an interdisciplinary team. I'd be willing to bet my right arm that you contribute to that statistic. You, as a nurse are NOT the only one in healthcare dealing with difficult situations- stop being a martyr and playing the victim.
Unfortunately, there are few, if any, staff nurse jobs that are life-long rewarding careers. If you don't want to have this painful work experience, you simply have to change your role in healthcare. My personal opinion is that if any person is regularly crying as a result of work, they need a change of scenery because life is too short for feeling that way.
I understand what you're saying. and sadly, I've heard it from other nurses.
My partner has been working in a surgical step down unit for almost 4 years. From what she says, it has gone from bad to horrible.
1 - instead of a ratio of 1:4, it is now 1:6 (or 7)
2 - the charge nurse has to have the same number of patients as the staff nurses - and still act as charge!
3 - the manager doesn't know how to schedule staff - and approves schedules with 10 nurses on one day (several get pulled or sent home) - and 5 on the next (charge nurse has to spend time calling staff to offer them hourly bonuses if they'll come in).
4 - manager plays favorites, says different things to different staff members - and when questioned about the blatant lies - simply smiles.
5 - educator sends out very, very long emails, with multiple attachments - and this is how the new information is disseminated to the staff. Staff doesn't have time to read the emails, let alone all the attachments.
6 - it's all about keeping the patient happy. Some of the demands are beyond stupid. The nurse is never supported - simply reprimanded for not doing his/her job.
I'm not sure that knowing you're not alone in your concerns will help ---- my partner has finally had enough and has moved into administration - where she can actually make some of the rules!!!
I think the challenges we are facing rest largely with the manner in which health care is compensated, which is essentially satisfaction over safety. I liken health care to airlines: while I may enjoy getting a free meal when I fly, it is far more important for me to arrive safely and on-time. If I want the fancy meal, hot towel, glass of champagne, etc., I understand that I need to pay a first-class fare - those features don't come standard!! Nowadays, nurses are expected to provide "white-glove" service to all patients, which no modifications in ratios or technology (at least at my DC-based non-profit, unionized hospital). Something has to give and unfortunately, it seems as though it is the spirit, morale and health of the hands-on care providers and not management or policy makers.
I read Allnurses every day, rarely do I post. Over the past year or so I've been reading more and more about how hard "that first year of nursing" is and how many new nurses just can't handle it and are looking to get out. I understand.
As an old, seasoned nurse, now retired I have watched nursing get harder and harder, working with sicker and sicker patients with less resources. How long can this continue? I've read lately about nurses who need antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds just to be able to come to work each day. And we all nod and say that's just how nursing is now. I read about nurses who cry and dread each day that they have to come to work, working in fear of making a mistake. The horror, a human being might make a mistake. And then I read other nurses who say, "we should never make mistakes, we should triple/quadruple check everything we do because the poor patient should not be harmed in any way, ever." What utopia do they live in? And yet we have to drop everything that we are triple checking to run and get a family member an extra pillow or a soft drink or risk being reprimanded.
What other career puts such a burden on it's members? I can't think of any that routinely have members dreading to come to work and needing medications to get through a shift, maybe airtraffic controllers, or combat soldiers. I don't know.
And then we tell ourselves that we should be happy that we're lucky to have a job. Really? What is so lucky about this?
I started nursing 40 years ago on a busy labor and delivery unit. I was afraid at times. But there was a support system from the top down. Director of nursing, nursing supervisors, head nurses (they weren't called managers back then) and the shift charge nurse, everyone pulled together. I miss that. I left hospital bedside nursing 10 years ago because of the lack of support and teamwork, and the increasing focus on the patient "experience" versus a positive outcome of disease or injury.
I don't have an answer, well I do but for some reason, nurses I have known don't want to talk about solving problems for their profession. We're great at solving everyone else's problems but not our own. How long can this continue? I feel sorry for new nurses and for my older colleagues as well.
THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS!
I have temporarily left nursing and thankfully found employment in a non-nursing role... to take a psychological break from everything you just described. I watch the job-boards weekly in the hope that "something better in nursing" will come along. But it never does. All the job postings internal/external are the same, for the same old ********. I will only return when things "perk up" a little. When there's a job that won't make me feel sick everyday to come to work. My motto is: If a hospital/clinic/institutions/whathaveyou won't provide me with the support I need to do my ******* job, they don't get to use my talent as a nurse... which is sad because I am a deeply caring and sensitive person but I feel like working in the depraved and inhumane capacity that nurses are expected to endure just sucks all that and the life right out of you. So, **** them! In the end, all this client-centered care and "the patient experience" ******** puts patients at risk by taking the nurses attention away from more pressing matters like for instance clinical assessments and emotional support and forcing us to, y'know make sure their pillows are fluffed and that their toast is cooked perfectly.... and you better do it at their beck-and-call or your career is OVER. **** them!
My unit ended up losing quite a few nurses, which prompted management to hold some meetings with us to find out why nurses were so unhappy. Since they've implemented some new changes things have improved drastically. I still have days that are stressful, but that stress is at a manageable level now. I think a lot of it comes down to management, a good manager will find solutions to help improve the work environment.
This is paramount on any unit. If you have a good manager/DON who have "really big Cajones" you will come near getting good changes. They will fight hard for that right. Unfortunately that is far a few between. Most don't have that backbone. They don't want to rock the boat so they half hearted go through the motions. You inform the UM what is wrong and needs fixing. This is continuing 6 mos later with no change. That's how you know what kind of UM you have. I see this all the time You are lucky with yours and their Cojones are showing.....
nutella, MSN, RN
1 Article; 1,509 Posts
I think there is nothing shameful about crying over a work situation as long as it is not in front of a patient. I have seen many nurses cry over my many years as a nurse - new graduates and experience nurses, old and young. After all we are only human beings and not everybody copes with stress in the same way. Nurses can cry out of grief, overwhelm, depression and so on and forth but still be professional in their role and do a great job. One does not exclude the other! It is important to support each other as nurses and to treat each other with kindness and understanding.